The Demon King's Hero Of Light 183 Chapter 183 The Fire In Her Hear

Holding the sleeping child in her arms, Aella approached the hap-hazard village carefully. Trying to think up excuses that Alfred might use, that these people might accept, she watched them gather apprehensively.

"Who are you?" asked a man, stepping forward and looking up at her.

Humans always amazed her on how short they were! Of course, trying to deal with the gnomes and halflings made it much easier.

"My name is Aella. My mother was the Hero of Air. When she died, I became the new one. I hope you don't mind if I take you all somewhere safer? There's still a lot of dangerous mana in this area."

"Are you still contagious?" asked a woman, studying her face.

"Contagious?" asked Aella confused. "From the mana?"

"No, your skin shows you had the plague that was going around. The scars are obvious, you can't hide them. I don't know anyone who managed to survive it," said the woman, shaking her head sadly.

"As a hero, I can't get sick," said Aella, wondering if that was actually true. "These scars are from the mana poisoning I have suffered looking for you. I have found no other survivors in all the land."

"That's what we feared," said another man, hanging his head in sorrow. "Does this mean that the church is gone as well? Has G.o.d really forsaken us?"

"While the church is indeed gone, I believe a G.o.d sent me to save you," said Aella, gritting her teeth at the thought of Joseph smirking. He would be so amused that she was using him as a way to convince these people to go along with her.

"If the church is gone, how can G.o.d speak to you?" asked a girl, almost old enough to be a woman.

"I have a way of talking with him. I wouldn't recommend it, though. It's rather difficult and comes with many trials," she sighed, thinking about having to babysit for him again.

"Can you prove to use that you are a hero?" asked an older man, looking at her skeptically.

Aella flew up into the air a few feet and hovered there, watching as the people nodded and murmured to each other.

"All right. We believe you. It will only take a few minutes for us to gather our things and to get the others together. How will we be traveling?" asked an older woman.

"Some of the others are very ill and can't walk well," said a small boy.

"I can teleport everyone to the Hero of Water. She is capable of healing most things," said Aella, settling back onto the ground.

With nods of approval, the humans scattered, some moving faster than others, and most having some kind of limp of some kind. Josephine was going to have her hands full.

Within ten minutes Aella had a crowd of about fifty people ready to be teleported. The child she had been holding had woken up and gathered her few belongings, and was standing beside her brother expectantly.

"Are you so tall because you're the Hero of Air?" asked the brother, who was barely any bigger than the girl.

"Nooo," said Aella slowly, glancing around at the people who were watching her expectantly. With a sigh, she sat down. "I have a confession to make."

"What?" asked the older woman from before. "Are you not here to save us?"

"No, I am here to save you," said Aella. "But a lot of things you may have been led to believe by the church are false."

"What is this?" asked the older man from before. "Is the church not dead?"

"No, the church is dead," said Aella, trying to think how to tell them who she really was.

"Good, I never liked them much anyway," said the older woman.

"They were always taxing us, and taking away our children," agreed another woman with a nod. "I'm glad they are gone."

"Then, what's this about a confession?" asked another man.

"I am the Hero of Air because my mother was the Hero of Air, but I am not fully human. My father was a demon," said Aella with a twinge, wondering what the people would say.

"I figured that was probably the case. There's not many humans with pure black pupils," chuckled one of the men.

"Is that what you were afraid of? Dear, none of us can control who our parents were. All we can do is control what we do with what we have," said a woman, patting Aella on the shoulder.

"I am so glad you feel that way," said Aella. "Because, I am also the Demon King."

"How is that possible?" asked a man, scrunching his brow in surprise.

"I was thrown into the pits as a child and had to fight other demons to survive. The winner of the pits was crowned king. I survived and became the king," explained Aella, thinking over all of the difficulties she had struggled with.

"That's what we've been doing," said a woman with a shrug. "We've all had to do things that were questionable in order to survive, and many of us struggle with the nightmares those things have left behind. You've suffered horribly to try and find us, to take us to a better place. I see no reason to judge you too horribly."

"Why would you tell us this, before taking us?" asked a man suspiciously. "I would think you would take us first, then tell us, if at all."

"I didn't want you to think I manipulated you into going. There are many more demons than humans in the place I would take you, though there is a city, at the moment, that is mostly humans. They were the ones in my kingdom that I save before the mana explosion."

The people around her began talking to each other. Some didn't like to find out they were going to be going to the demon lands. They believed it was all her fault, somehow, that so many had died, and Aella couldn't argue with him. If she had tried to save them before she blew up her palace, then many more would have been saved.

Standing up, she stepped back and looked over the crowd before her. "In order to take you to the safe place, you need to be touching me when I teleport. I will make as many trips as is necessary, to take those who wish to go. I will not force you, but just know the storms will get worse, and will last for the next three months. Then winter will hit."

Ten people refused to step forward to touch her. It took three trips, to get those willing to go, moved. Aella returned after each trip, hoping that the ten would change their minds.

When it was just the ten and her, she sat down again. "I can take you against your will, but I will not do that. There is no way for you to survive here, on your own, and there is no way for you to reach the place I have taken the others to. I will speak to the Hero of Light and see if he will come back with me tomorrow, to speak with you once again. I am sorry you feel the need to not go with the others."

"I have been taught from a very young age, that the problems that plagued me were because of you demons," said the man in charge of the group. "I cannot help but believe the church is dead because of you."

"It's true. I did kill the church leaders," said Aella with a nod. "And when my palace blew up, it probably killed the rest of the church."

"How did you survive, if your palace blew up?" asked the man, narrowing his eyes.

"I was able to teleport away."

"No other king has had that ability," argued the man.

"You're probably right. I got this ability because of a magical item with a will of its own. It chose to trust me. I will return tomorrow, with Alfred, and perhaps he can convince you where I have failed."

He snorted and turned his back, herding the women and children who chose to stay with him back towards the village. Aella could hear him telling them that all demons lie and that with all of the others gone, there would be more food for the rest of them, and they wouldn't have to work so hard to provide what was needed. She couldn't help but feel sad at their decision. She had worked so hard, and suffered so much, to find these people.

A tendril of anger was fighting to grow, and she suddenly imagined burning their little village to the ground. If they had no where to live, they would have no choice but to go with the others. Shaking her head, and quieting the fire in her heart, she teleported back to search for Alfred.